A Lonely Road

"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." – Margaret Chittenden

Writing can be a lonely occupation. To become accomplished, you must spend a good deal of time alone. Even if you frequent coffee shops and cafés in which to work, it’s still a solitary endeavor. Maybe you go there for the ambient noise, or for a change of scenery, or maybe just to somewhat inaccessible. No matter. Once you set to work, with keyboard or pen and paper, you’re on your own.

And so, traditionally, writers have gathered together. Who else understands the peculiar sort of solitude in which a writer indulges, but another writer? Who else understands the kind of self-doubt that seems peculiar to the wordsmith? And who else can provide the creative synergy besides other likeminded individuals?

A prime example here is that of “The Lost Generation,” which was Gertrude Stein’s term for Ernest Hemingway and other authors who formed close relationships in Paris. Hemingway, Stein, James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, the poet Ezra Pound, and others came together to become something that was more than the sum of its parts. After all, ideas and creative stimulus and excitement are things that do not diminish when given away but grow and expand.

Another example would be the “Mad Summer” in which Mary Woolstonecraft, Percy Shelley, Dr. Polidori, and Lord Byron gathered at Byron’s Lake Geneva home in Switzerland. Since the weather was atypically foul for the time of year, they stayed indoors and had a storytelling contest.

Dr. Polidori wrote a story called “The Vampyre” (which the egotistical Lord Byron took credit for), which later influenced Bram Stoker to pen the classic *Dracula.*Mary Woolstonecraft (later Mary Shelley) wrote a story that she expanded to become Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus.
The Mad Summer gathering was probably a lot more complicated and less Romantic than it seems in hindsight, but the point is creative people gathered and powerful works were produced as a result. Mary Shelley channeled her intense feelings of abandonment and betrayal into Frankenstein, making it a powerful novel and enduring classic.

We have the opportunity for our own Left Bank, our own Mad Summer, our own gathering of literary geniuses. Writing may be a solitary activity, but it is also good to balance that out from time to time. We can inspire one another, challenge one another, instruct one another, and encourage one another.

FINAL NOTE: Please respect the venue by purchasing at least one food or drink item. Thank you.